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American Morning
Gift of Life
Aired September 24, 2002 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to move on to an extraordinary story. It's about a 7-year-old Palestinian girl who is alive today because of a donated kidney. The organ came from a Jewish teenager, Jonathan Jesner, who was killed last week on a bus bombed by a Palestinian suicide bomber. Jonathan Jesner's brother Ari joins us now from Jerusalem.
Good to have you with us Thanks for joining us, sir.
ARI JESNER, BROTHER OF TERRORIST VICTIM: Good morning.
ZAHN: Let's talk a little bit about what happened to your brother. He was killed by a militant Palestinian suicide bomber. How did your family react when you learned his kidney was going to go to a 7-year-old Palestinian girl?
JESNER: Well, I think, firstly, it must be pointed out that the family takes the initial decision to donate organs, and then it's really up to the state of Israel and the hospital to decide who the kidneys go to. In the circumstances, we were just alike (ph) to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of all our own family tragedy. And Johnny (ph), through his death, was able to save another life, and what's important here is the fact that he was saving another human being, and I think race, religion, culture and creed are really unimportant and insignificant here.
ZAHN: So that never would have influenced your decision, if there had been a different process, and you would have had a choice as to who that kidney would have gone to.
JESNER: I don't think so. Johnny (ph) was going to return to London to study medicine, and was hoping to return to Israel to work as a doctor, and in Israel, Arab doctors and Jewish doctors work side by side, and the doctors don't choose the patients they are going to treat. The treatment goes out to everyone who needs it. It's a human issue. It's not a political one.
ZAHN: I know you've heard a little of what this girl's family has had to say. They obviously are very grateful for the generosity of your family. Do you plan to meet her?
JESNER: Not in the near future. You must understand that Yani's death came as a sudden shock to us, and it's really only a small number of days since he passed away, and the family are in an internal period of mourning at the moment and we really need time to ourselves.
But maybe in the future, the wounds begin to heal, the family may feel that it's appropriate to meet with her family.
ZAHN: What has meant to you, though, to hear the very kind things they have said about your family and your family's generosity? That must mean a lot.
JESNER: It does mean a lot. It gives us an awful lot of strength, and it makes us very proud that we were able to live out such an important principle, and put the principle of saving life and the value of life, which is such an important value, an important principle, not just in the state of Israel, but in Judaism generally.
ZAHN: You made, I think, a very powerful point that when your brother was studying medicine, he worked side by side with Arab doctors, and they didn't make a choice as to who they were going to treat. They treated the person who needed help the most. What are you hoping will be the long-term impact of your brothers story, and the donation of his kidney to a Palestinian girl.
JESNER: Well, I hope this makes the world aware of the fact that they issues in this story in the Middle East is not black and white. In fact, things are very complicated, and most things actually are gray. And here, we have a story which is about humanity, which is about human beings touching each other, and I think it gives everyone hope that, in actual facts, on a one-to-one level, when it comes to dealing between individuals, that in actual fact, we can live side by side and we can help each other, and the difficulties at the moment really lie in the political area.
ZAHN: So truly you believe if people saw each other as individuals and not immediately as enemies, that could help break the cycle of violence.
JESNER: Absolutely. I think that's crucial. I think the solution to this problem is going to be a very long term one, but I think more than any solution that comes by political process, it's very much going to be based on education, education in particular of this case of the Palestinian population, that we all have to live together and live together as individuals in peace.
ZAHN: Well, you're brother Jonathan certainly has a wonderful living legacy in little Yasmin, and we really thank you in sharing your story with us. It's such a painful time for your family.
Thanks, Ari. And good luck to you and the rest of your family.
JESNER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 24, 2002 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to move on to an extraordinary story. It's about a 7-year-old Palestinian girl who is alive today because of a donated kidney. The organ came from a Jewish teenager, Jonathan Jesner, who was killed last week on a bus bombed by a Palestinian suicide bomber. Jonathan Jesner's brother Ari joins us now from Jerusalem.
Good to have you with us Thanks for joining us, sir.
ARI JESNER, BROTHER OF TERRORIST VICTIM: Good morning.
ZAHN: Let's talk a little bit about what happened to your brother. He was killed by a militant Palestinian suicide bomber. How did your family react when you learned his kidney was going to go to a 7-year-old Palestinian girl?
JESNER: Well, I think, firstly, it must be pointed out that the family takes the initial decision to donate organs, and then it's really up to the state of Israel and the hospital to decide who the kidneys go to. In the circumstances, we were just alike (ph) to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of all our own family tragedy. And Johnny (ph), through his death, was able to save another life, and what's important here is the fact that he was saving another human being, and I think race, religion, culture and creed are really unimportant and insignificant here.
ZAHN: So that never would have influenced your decision, if there had been a different process, and you would have had a choice as to who that kidney would have gone to.
JESNER: I don't think so. Johnny (ph) was going to return to London to study medicine, and was hoping to return to Israel to work as a doctor, and in Israel, Arab doctors and Jewish doctors work side by side, and the doctors don't choose the patients they are going to treat. The treatment goes out to everyone who needs it. It's a human issue. It's not a political one.
ZAHN: I know you've heard a little of what this girl's family has had to say. They obviously are very grateful for the generosity of your family. Do you plan to meet her?
JESNER: Not in the near future. You must understand that Yani's death came as a sudden shock to us, and it's really only a small number of days since he passed away, and the family are in an internal period of mourning at the moment and we really need time to ourselves.
But maybe in the future, the wounds begin to heal, the family may feel that it's appropriate to meet with her family.
ZAHN: What has meant to you, though, to hear the very kind things they have said about your family and your family's generosity? That must mean a lot.
JESNER: It does mean a lot. It gives us an awful lot of strength, and it makes us very proud that we were able to live out such an important principle, and put the principle of saving life and the value of life, which is such an important value, an important principle, not just in the state of Israel, but in Judaism generally.
ZAHN: You made, I think, a very powerful point that when your brother was studying medicine, he worked side by side with Arab doctors, and they didn't make a choice as to who they were going to treat. They treated the person who needed help the most. What are you hoping will be the long-term impact of your brothers story, and the donation of his kidney to a Palestinian girl.
JESNER: Well, I hope this makes the world aware of the fact that they issues in this story in the Middle East is not black and white. In fact, things are very complicated, and most things actually are gray. And here, we have a story which is about humanity, which is about human beings touching each other, and I think it gives everyone hope that, in actual facts, on a one-to-one level, when it comes to dealing between individuals, that in actual fact, we can live side by side and we can help each other, and the difficulties at the moment really lie in the political area.
ZAHN: So truly you believe if people saw each other as individuals and not immediately as enemies, that could help break the cycle of violence.
JESNER: Absolutely. I think that's crucial. I think the solution to this problem is going to be a very long term one, but I think more than any solution that comes by political process, it's very much going to be based on education, education in particular of this case of the Palestinian population, that we all have to live together and live together as individuals in peace.
ZAHN: Well, you're brother Jonathan certainly has a wonderful living legacy in little Yasmin, and we really thank you in sharing your story with us. It's such a painful time for your family.
Thanks, Ari. And good luck to you and the rest of your family.
JESNER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
